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Pretty easy to spot although not to deal with. A boss on a power-trip tends to:
My Boss is Passive-Aggressive A passive-aggressive supervisor may be the toughest boss to deal with. He may present as a great person—easy-going, a people-pleaser, even. Except that you’re never quite sure where you stand with him. It’s rather like trying to catch a cloud. Once you think you have your arms around it, it kind of disappears. What is passive-aggressive? A passive-aggressive boss is likely to: Be unclear on what he wants Keep information you need to himself Keep reminding you of errors you made eons ago Imply criticism but deny it when asked to clarify What it looks like Tony (boss): I noticed you took off yesterday afternoon. You: Yes, I thought you said it was okay. Tony: But I really needed to talk to you. You: Sorry. But if you texted me, I could have gotten back to you. Tony: No, it was more of a discussion than a text. You: So, maybe it wasn’t a good afternoon to be out of the office. Tony: No, no, it’s fine. We all need down time, right? What to do Clearly, it isn’t fine but you’ll never get him to admit it. Tony possibly didn’t want to give you that…
An under-performing boss can hurt your career. There are some things only your boss can do. She is the link between you and the rest of the company. She can damage your area’s reputation by making unwise decisions which in turn leads to less money and fewer staff (i.e. your job!)
If the world were fair, you’d never have a jerk boss. They would all be evenhanded, encourage their staff to their full potential, and not be working out personal issues on the job. Right. Every once in a while, you get a great one. If you do, they are gold. Hang in there as long as you can and don’t take your luck for granted.
Differing Orders—Refuse the Project? The CEO of your company encouraged working across silos, but your boss Sean has a differing view. In the last post, you asked Sean’s permission to go ahead with a cross-silo project. He was either angry or gave you a chance. Problem is you don’t know which one it will be before the fact. Wouldn’t it be best to avoid undertaking the project completely, given you know that Sean is lukewarm to the idea? What kind of risk are you taking in asking about differing orders? You presumably know Sean to some extent. You’ve seen his reaction in other situations. Does he fly off the handle when things don’t go his way, or stay calm? Does he allow differing views on his orders, or do you know not to question him? These and other indicators can give you some predictive power on his reaction to broaching the cross-silo project. Pay attention. Should you assume the worst? If, after this assessment, you’re pretty sure that he’ll go ballistic, you’d be wise to keep your head down. But what if the risk doesn’t seem so extreme? What if he might go for it? In this case, I’d encourage…